eScan Mobile Security for Android

**Raj** · 30-06-2014

Abundant android devices today are on risk of malware. Increase in Smartphone's and tablets also lead to increase in the apps and games. By default most users use Google Play Store to download their favorite apps. But there are many who try to install any apk files available online. Many of us try to download paid games for free which are distributed in the form of crack. People forget one thing, downloading this unauthorized apk file can cause serious security issues. You are not just downloading but you are also indirectly promoting piracy. Youngsters mostly share files blindly with each other. But there is something that you can do to prevent virus issues on your phone. Smartphone's are the most portable device that remains in our access. Primarily used for communications, the devices are pushed much more ahead due to advanced technology. Today we have a phone that brings desktop like features. Like sending emails, editing files, downloading, video chat, playing hd games, multimedia editing, etc. Smartphone and tablets had become a hub of our entire work either for personal or professional use. But what you really do to keep your device protected.

For pc we have ample of antivirus and free security software. The entire scenario is different when it comes to a portable device. First we are having a low hardware config. Second we have limited internet speed. Third android devices come already with so many bloat wares. Adding a few app can hamper performance. And at this stage you might not be interested to install an antivirus. But we have something that can give you a one stop solution for dealing with evolving security concerned on android. The antivirus is optimized to work with various android devices and it is also low on ram usage. It does not really hamper your phone output and brings out latest solution that you won't find anywhere. Today we will talk about eScan Mobile Security. eScan is a popular antivirus that comes for various platform and now an android version is also available. To test, you can download a trial edition and if you are satisfied, you can go ahead buying a license. You can activate that for 1 year, 3 year or for lifetime. 1 year subscription comes for Rs.900, a 3 year subscription costs around Rs.1600 and lifetime is for Rs.2999.

Features:

Antivirus: Keep your device protected from latest malware.
Call & Sms Filter: Blacklist messages you no longer want to receive.
Backup: Backup/restore your contact and sms with one tap.
Parental Control: Keep blocked content inaccessible when kids play with your phone.
Anti-Theft: Locate or wipe out your data on loss of device.
Privacy Advisor: Checkout what all permissions are used by the app.
Advanced Settings: Customize notification and other important settings of eScan Mobile Security.

Features and UI:

eScan comes separately for mobile and tablet. But both have exactly the same features. Today we are going to test and review the mobile edition. The app is simple to use. You can download it from Google Play for free. On first download you can activate a 13day trial with all features to find out whether it is a great security app or not. And I am quite sure you will be satisfied after using it. The app brings out some really important features like sms filter, parental control, backup and anti-theft. The features clearly justify the cost. I found this one a bit costly compared to other one, but after using it, the important thing that I noticed was that it does not freeze the phone. After installing, it asks you to lock the antivirus with a secure code. So that no one can make any changes in the settings. In-order to activate parental control and anti-theft you have to allow admin permission. The UI is extremely simple. Everything is on the front screen. There are no tabs here. I found the interface a bit outdated. It is less flashy, straight and simple. It looks lightweight. That is the reason the antivirus is able to work well on device with 512mb ram which already has around 10 apps that provide real-time update.

**Raj** · 30-06-2014

On the main screen you can find 7 different tabs. Each of those tabs open up another drop down menu with more options. Like the first one is for running scan and updating your antivirus. You can tap on settings to adjust scan type. For example, you can enable file scanning just after you add anything new in your phone. You can also configure schedule scan from here.

The next tab below is for Call and sms filter. You don't have to do anything here. When you receive a sms you will get an escan notification about adding that sms on a white list or black list. In this way you can stop spam messages. There is a mode button in which you can apply different settings for filtering the sms messages. Below that is the backup section. A very handy option to instantly backup and restore your contacts and sms. Here you are not relying on any third party applications. You can copy all your contacts and sms whenever you want. The process is really fast.

**Raj** · 30-06-2014

Parental Control brings out a few advance settings for your device if it is used by others also. For example, many times your kids might take your phone and use it. Or some of your friend. Through parental control you can avoid this misuse. This is the smartly designed part of eScan. You have option to block website and apps from this part. After turning it on you can easily stop apps that you don't want others to use and you can also block websites. By default eScan comes loaded with its own list of categories. It is smart enough to detect a site and stop it. Like in the above image you can see web categories. There is a huge list available below. If you want you can add a few specific website under Exclusion.

The last option is Anti-Theft. Most of the antivirus comes with this feature. Once activated you have option to block your phone and wipe data through a sms command. In this way no one can get your personal information. Under Data wipe you have more choices like you can simply tap on personal date which will delete selected information like contact, sms, logs, etc; and folders through which you can add separate folders. Once you send the command through sms the app will delete the files of that folder. You will also receive the new number in sms once the sim is changed and it has a gps wipe option. By sending a sms you can get the gps to co-ordinate through which you can locate the phone. As you can see eScan Mobile Security comes loaded with many impressive features and it is also very easy to use. You have choices for backup, locate lost phone, remote wipe and even restrict phones apps. eScan falls in the list of best antivirus for android. Because it is not just limited to scanning. Almost all features are smart enough and required for today. There are many similar apps but they eat more ram of your phone. Leaving those apps aside you can just add eScan Mobile Security to get everything at one place.

Performance and Security:

Scan time depends upon the data. The time can be longer if you have too many apps in the device. I do not really think you have to go with manual scanning. The app will work well whenever you install something new in your phone or tablet. It will detect and locate its issue and will warn you whether to move ahead or not. At the time of scanning it is recommended not to use any app. If you are having a device with 1GB ram then performance is much better. Regular update makes the antivirus work really well to locate the latest threat. Once you have eScan on your phone, you have to worry less about security issues. It is recommended that you must activate the Anti-Theft options. In case you lose your phone there are few chances of locating it and destroying your personal data.

Conclusion:

Features of eScan Mobile Security makes it an amazing security tool for android platform. I am quite happy with the overall usage. I had tested it on different devices. They are Lenovo A36i which is an entry level phone with low end hardware, Moto E and Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It worked well everywhere. To use it effectively you must have atleast 512mb ram so that your device does not freeze while scanning. Other things are quite fine here. eScan has a simple UI while other antivirus uses a very flashy one. All tabs and options are properly organized and easy to access.

Pros: